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Monday, October 22, 2012

Astral's The Movie Network announced today that programming from The Movie Network, HBO Canada and The Movie Network Encore is now available as part of the Shaw Exo On Demand and Shaw Direct On Demand services. The content offering will be available to Shaw Cable and Shaw Direct subscribers of Astral's premium pay-television services in eastern Canada at no extra charge.

Rogers Media Inc. today announced it has closed the previously announced acquisition of all of the issued and outstanding shares of Score Media Inc. (the Transaction). The Transaction received shareholder and court approvals earlier this week.

Shaw Media, BBC America and Cineflix Studios have renewed the breakout hit series Copper, for a second season with an increased order of 13 episodes. Canadians can watch the season one finale on November 4 on Showcase.

Global’s new drama Chicago Fire is already lighting up Wednesday nights this fall. The series was the second most-watched show of the night drawing in 1.2 million viewers, following the network’s own, Survivor: Philippines. Survivor solidly increased its viewership over last week by 10%, dominating the night with over 2.5 million Canadians tuning in (2+, Nat).

After today's denial of the Bell and Astral merger by the CRTC, Astral and the CAJ made comments on the deal. CAJ came out and stated what they think, but Astral didn't do much of that, instead they stated what they know so far. More after the jump.

Today, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) denied BCE’s application to acquire control of Astral Media’s television and radio services because it is not in the public interest. Astral Media operates 84 radio stations and 20 pay and specialty television channels in both official languages.

On the day of the release of her highly-anticipated fourth studio album, Red,global megastar Taylor Swift sits down with Citytv for an intimate conversation in the prime-time special,Entertainment City: Taylor Swift. Airing Monday, Oct. 22 at 7 p.m. local time (check local listings) on Citytv,Citytv.com and Rogers Radio stations across Canada, the half-hour special brings fans the scoop on everything from how she stays grounded amidst a hectic recording and tour schedule, to the inspiration behind her chart-topping hit single “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.”

It’s an anniversary to remember! The Comedy Network celebrates its 15th birthday on the heels of its best season ever. The 2011/2012 broadcast year is the most-watched in Comedy history, and the channel has grown 12% in total viewers compared to 2010/2011. Comedy has also experienced growth in the key demo A18-49 for the broadcast year, increasing its audience by 14% over 2010/2011. In addition, September was the most-watched month in the channel’s history. Almost 3 million viewers tuned into Comedy on a daily basis in September 2012.Also in September 2012, Comedy ranked as the #1 specialty channel for A18-24. Among non-sports specialty networks, Comedy is the #2 channel for A18-34 and M18-34, third in the key demo A18-49, and is #4 with total viewers, increasing its ranking by six spots compared to the 2011/2012 broadcast year.

Iconic broadcaster Jay Ingram fills the hockey void with Scoring With Science, an all-new, action-packed original production looking at how hockey teams are getting a winning edge from scientific research. Premering Sunday, Nov. 4 on Discovery, the one-hour special features marquee NHL players including Steve Stamkos, Jake Gardiner, Stephen Weiss, former player Gary Roberts, prominent scientists, and super slow motion video. Together, they explore how the newest advancements in science and technology are aiding the NHL’s top clubs by determining how best to shoot a puck, build a better body and make top-notch skates and sticks.

The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television Chairman Martin Katz is pleased to announce that former investment banking executive and now private investor Cam di Prata, as well as Scott Henderson, Vice-President, Communications, Bell Media, have joined ACCT’s Board of Directors, effective immediately.

Corus Entertainment's YTV kids and family channel has launched YTV's Bring Me To 1D campaign, a search for the biggest One Direction fan in Canada to celebrate the band's new album Take Me Home, released November 13, 2012. This exclusive YTV opportunity is the only place in Canada where One Direction fans will be able to flex their creative muscles for a chance to meet the musical group live in New York on December 3, 2012. 1D admirers will have up until Tuesday, October 23 to prove they are the band's #1 fan. The winner of the fan search will be announced on Monday, November 5 on YTV's The Zone.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

W Network’s Property Brothers Drew and Jonathan Scott are giving fans an all-access, unedited, behind-the-scenes look at their lives between filming with BroCam, a collection of one to two minute webisodes. The first video will launch on W Network’s YouTube channel, WNetwork.com and on the W Network Facebook page on Tuesday, October 23 at 9 p.m. ET, following the live Facebook chat with Drew and Jonathan which will take place during that night’s Property Brothers episode.

The Canada Media Fund today announced a new resource for creators and producers of digital media content, resulting from a research partnership with Screen Australia and supported by Canadian Media Production Association. The Transmedia Multiplatform and Convergent Resource Kit was conceived, designed, and developed by Dr. Siobhan O’Flynn and Anthea Foyer.

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

TSN congratulates Rod Smith, who was honoured with the Excellence in Sports Broadcasting award at today’s Sports Media Canada awards ceremony for his aquatics play-by-play during the London 2012 Olympic Games. Smith hosts the weekday edition of Sportscentre on TSN.

From uranium mining in the north, to potash production in the south, Citytv’s new original documentary The Sky is the Limit brings viewers across the vast expanse of the prairies into communities witnessing Saskatchewan’s unprecedented economic boom. Produced by Saskatchewan-based Stephen Onda Productions Inc., the one-hour documentary premieres on Citytv Saskatchewan Thursday, Oct. 18 at 10 p.m. CT.

Building on the successes of the Super Channel Feature Documentary Award, Super Channel, Canada’s only national English pay-television network, is offering its third annual opportunity for two documentary director/ producer teams with credits in hour-long television, to make the leap to feature length documentaries.

It was another bull’s eye for ARROW as 1.3 million viewers tuned in to its special CTV premiere Sunday night. Following its historic CTV Two debut Wednesday as the network’s most-watched series premiere on record (1.1 million viewers), ARROW delivered another million-plus audience to finish #4 for the night, behind only THE AMAZING RACE (#1, 2.7 million viewers), ONCE UPON A TIME (#2, 1.7 million viewers), and THE MENTALIST (#3, 1.6 million viewers). THE AMAZING RACE and ONCE UPON A TIME both delivered new season high audiences as CTV won every hour of primetime Sunday night from 7-11 p.m. with total viewers,A18-49, and A25-54.

Jeffrey Orridge, CBC’s Executive Director, Sports Properties is adding the Olympics portfolio to his current responsibilities. Effective immediately, Orridge will oversee all aspects of Olympic related business for CBC/Radio-Canada.

The Ontario Association of Broadcasters’ annual Community Service Awards entry deadline is Friday, October 19th. Enter your station’s best public service campaign soon! Simply go to www.oab.ca and follow the prompts to the Awards page where you can upload your full entry including your audio and/or video!

The CRTC recently announced that starting on December 11th they will hold a hearing on whether the reports submitted by G4techTV and OWN include enough changes so they can comply with the nature of their service.

This week, Business News Network features innovative Canadian small businesses, and addresses the challenges they face to be a success. With 48% of Canadians employed by companies with 100 or fewer employees, small businesses mean big business to the Canadian economy. BNN and co-sponsor Bell salute these 1.1 million Canadian businesses with a week of features during Small Business Week, beginning today and airing throughout the week, October 15-19.

After more than 16 years building Canadian Women in Communications into Canada’s most widely respected national women’s business organization, CWC President Stephanie MacKendrick will be leaving the organization. She will remain involved in the organization as a Special Advisor to the Board, but her departure to pursue other opportunities will be effective as of December 1, 2012.

The announcement comes as CWC embarks on a strategic campaign to support women as they advance and navigate their careers in Canada’s media, communications, technology and social media sectors. The industry association has launched a Technology Leadership Council, and a new mentorship program with Wired Women.